Macedonia and Serbia Gear up for National IP Strategies

The Macedonian and Serbian intellectual property offices have recently held separate discussions about their national strategies for intellectual property.

The Serbian IPO organized a meeting on June 15, 2009, while the Macedonian IPO held three workshops on May 26, 2009. Both events were organized in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and gathered relevant state officials, local and international IP experts.

The discussions focused on priority steps to be taken in drafting of national strategies, as well as on key institutions that should take part in the drafting of national strategies.

Workshop conclusions in Macedonia will be further discussed at the next meeting, which will take place in July and which is intended to finalize the national strategy.

On the occasion of drafting the national strategy for Macedonia, European IP expert Ron Marchant paid a visit to the Macedonian IPO to provide expert opinion and discuss relevant issues with Macedonian IP officials and experts.

Marchant also attended the meeting in Serbia where he addressed participants. Other speakers at this meeting included Milos Nedeljkovic, state secretary in the Serbian Ministry of Science and Technological Development, Michal Svantner, WIPO’s Senior Counselor, and Branka Totic, head of the Serbian IPO.

For more information, please contact Tatjana Nakevska in our Macedonia Office, and Jovana Miocinovic in our Balkan Regional Office.